Preperations

Belzinth watched as Dusty sparred with one of his battle mages. The thwack of wood against wood rebounded off the uneven, rocky surface which made up the training room walls.

 Dusty has been improving rapidly, which is expected of a hero, but he still lacks a considerable amount of experience. Belzinth thought.

A rectangle of light shot out of Belzinth’s staff. “Dusty, I will be back in a moment for your magic training. Just keep practicing for now.” He exited the room and placed his staff against the opposite wall of a long, cave-like hallway, revealing a dark albeit short tunnel leading to a small room.

The rock wall closed behind him. The only light in the room emanated from the rectangular projection.

“Sir, Belzinth, Sir.” A man wearing green robes and carrying a staff emblazoned with a military insignia saluted. A sword grew dust as it lay on the table in front of the man. Barren, concrete walls were the only thing visible behind him. “Sergenat Morian reporting in.” 

“This isn’t your usual reporting time, how is the situation in Woodside?”

“We’ve spotted a strange girl traveling with a well dressed man, four orphans, an elf, and one of Galorex’s apprentices. They entered the city shortly before our communication.”

“Do you have any information on their motives?”

“None that have been made clear at the moment. We believe it has something to do with the orphans as a merchant recently purchased them and left in the direction of the Brass Armada fort.”

“Have you begun any attempts to approach them?”

“No sir. We evaluated the magical signature of the elf to be something we couldn’t take on with our current forces. Based on our initial evaluation of their strength, and your orders from yesterday, the five of us would not be able to take them on even if the scouts stationed nearby were to reinforce us.”

“Have you tried talking to them?”

“We determined any contact with them would be ill advised until reinforcements arrive so we will have the upper hand if they are not willing to negotiate.”

“Continue to hold your position and do not engage. We are aware the elf is incredibly powerful, but we believe the strange woman to be responsible for the scout casualties, not her. Remain alert and don’t be caught flat-footed.”

The sergeant nodded. “What are your orders if they attack the city?”

“Let them. We’re at war. The lives of soldiers are more important than the lives of civilians. What’s most important for the safety of all our citizens is that you maintain your position and continue to give us as much information as possible.”

Sergeant Morian saluted. “Sir Belzinth Sir.”

The rectangle disappeared leaving Belzinth in complete darkness. He tapped his staff against one of the walls and the path returning to the training room opened up.

“I apologize Dusty, but I will only be able to teach you the basics before sending you to receive some hands-on experience out in the field. Evil never rests and neither will we. Your participation will likely be unnecessary but it will be good for you to experience things for yourself regardless.” Belzinth nodded at the battle mage who left the room.

“Wouldn’t it be better for me to keep training then?”

“In field training has always yielded the best results for us in the past.” Belzinth handed Dusty a training wand. “Use this for now.”

“What do I do with it?”

“Start by pointing at something while imagining a flame, then imagine forcing that flame through your very being until the wand releases it.” Belzinth returned to his spot near the exit. “If you are struggling, do not hesitate to close your eyes or shout words you associate with the desired response such as fire or flame.”

“Alright. I’ll do it.” Dusty pointed his wand at a target near the back of the room and began to think.

Nothing happened.

He closed his eyes and tried again.

Once again, nothing happened.

“Fireball” He repeated the same process but shouted this time.

A tiny flame crawled out of his wand.

“It’s always difficult the first time. Try again, but focus more on the process and focus more on where the magic is coming from.”

Dusty stood in thought for a moment while breathing deeply. He thrust his wand towards the target. A small flame fired out of the wand, but only traveled a short distance before dissipating.

“Well done. Now see how much you can do using the other steps.”

“Thank you, sir.” Dusty took in a deep breath. He thrust the wand towards the target a second time. “Fireball.” A small bead of fire shot forward, only dissipating once it struck the target.

“Well done again Dusty.” Belzinth patted his shoulder. “You are most certainly the hero we were looking for.”

“Shouldn’t I need to prove myself by saving people or something, not by training a bit.” Dusty looked confused, unsure, and suspicious of the whole situation.

“Testing your skills comes first. You can’t show your heroism if you don’t have the strength or ability to show it can you?”

“I guess not.”

“Keep practicing, this time try creating other magical basics such as water, ice, or stone in addition to the fire you've been creating. I have something else I need to attend to. I will be back as soon as it’s done.”

Belzinth returned to the same hidden room as before. White light surrounded his staff then fired into the air forming a rectangle.

Two consulate scouts appeared on the other side of the rectangle. “Sir, Belzinth, Sir.” The Men saluted.

“Our targets have been located in Woodside. We are sending reinforcements and expect a confrontation. You will be alerted once we establish contact with existing troops in the area. When you receive this alert, you are to immediately fly to Woodside to provide backup.”

“Understood.”

“Have you gathered any useful information?”

“We have discovered the name of this fort to be Jesperville. We also believe Major Jesper to be among the casualties, alongside any other human or elven members of the Brass Armada. Though we have not discovered any corpses or evidence of their deaths, we have discovered documents discussing guard rotations as well as who was stationed here and how many steambots were stationed here. We investigated the steambots and discovered all thirty combat steambots to have been destroyed. All non combat steambots had also been destroyed.”

“That fort was a greater threat than I thought; I’m glad it was defeated without any casualties on our side." A genuine look of shock erupted onto Belzinth's face until he replaced it with a more stoic expression. "Were you able to make any discoveries about who did this or how they did it?”

“No sir. Aside from the civilian reports we gathered yesterday, we have not been able to gather any information.”

“Continue your investigation until you receive our alert.”

“Sir, Belzinth, Sir.”

All color from the rectangle disappeared. Belzinth sat there for a moment. Just who is this woman? Dusty is from Earth so he might know something. On the other hand it may cause issues if I let him know too much... He rubbed his chin. One more communication.

An elvish man in a white lab coat appeared on screen. Behind him was a discordant array of various vials resting on a stained countertop, some of which were filled with a variety of colorful substances. Various death-trap looking machines whizzed and whirred about in the background.

“Ah, Belzinth, you’ve caught me at the perfect time. I just finished conducting one of my experiments and was about to submit my findings.”

“Your report can wait. Have you been notified of the situation in Woodside?”

“I was just there the other day. What’s going on? Do you need me to handle things?”

A grotesquely mutilated bird flew into Belzinth’s view. He covered his eyes. “I told you to be careful about your experiments when you are speaking to me Doctor Ishmikhov.”

“Hehe, sorry about that.” The doctor pointed a sleek, metallic staff in the air. An orange light surrounded his staff. Lightning arced in the air cracking and whipping until it struck the bird. “One day after I finally succeed you will be proud to see them, you will be proud to see them all.” A manic expression overtook his face, complementing his disheveled, white hair.

“That is what I hope. A squad of mages will be meeting at Fort Hill, I will leave it up to your discretion whether any of the troops stationed there join the team; I would advise you to send at least two. A freshly summoned hero will be there as well. You are NOT to interact with him in any way! I will need you to clean up and get your experiments in line before they arrive.

His expression dimmed. “Yes, yes, of course of course, sir, Belzinth, sir and all. Goodbye.”

The rectangle disappeared.

I’ll need to plan on how to handle Dusty if he finds out. The faded don’t seem to have consistent moral beliefs or temperaments so we can’t expect him to react the way we want him to.

Belzinth returned to the training room. Spell after spell slammed into the training dummy. Most were fire attacks, but he was getting more used to using ice, water, and stone attacks as well. He had even tried firing a grainy, black rock of sorts at the target followed by flames, which resulted in the rock igniting. Belzinth imagined such a practice would have unreliable effects in the field. He’s getting better fast. That’s good, though he is still far from being as effective as one of my battle mages.

“You’ve done well Dusty.”

“Thank you sir.” Dusty smiled.

“I will show you to the armor room so we can get you properly protected for your mission.”

“Why are you sending me somewhere so dangerous?”

“If you are to fend off the evils of this world, you will need to become used to danger and see their malice.”

“I understand. Here’s this back sir.” Dusty tried to hand the wand back.

“Keep it. It will be a useful tool for the mission… if you need it.” Belzinth began to walk off then looked back at Dusty. “Follow me.”

Dusty pocketed the wand then followed Belzinth.